As invited guests, filmmakers João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata will present “a significant part of their work, alongside a selection of films chosen by them,” the Portuguese Cinematheque stated in a press release.
The program by João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata, subtitled ‘Malamor / Tainted Love’, includes 60 films, featuring an unreleased film titled ’13 Alfinetes’, commissioned by BoCA — Biennial of Contemporary Arts, a partner of this Portuguese Cinematheque program.
This film, shot in Lisbon and Madrid, will premiere at the conclusion of the cycle on October 15 in Lisbon and later on the 23rd of the same month in Madrid.
Additionally, the National Society of Fine Arts in Lisbon proposes a video installation ‘Sem Antes Nem Depois’, which places in dialogue the films ‘Os Verdes Anos’ (1963) by Paulo Rocha, and ‘Onde Fica Esta Rua?’ (2022) by João Pedro Rodrigues and Guerra da Mata.
With the ‘carte blanche’ given to the two filmmakers, the Portuguese Cinematheque will feature films by directors such as Derek Jarman, Jacques Demy, Jean-Luc Godard, John Waters, Johnnie To, Lucio Fulci, Pedro Almodóvar, Radu Jude, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Tsai Ming-Liang, among others.
João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata have been collaborating in film since the 1990s, with the former primarily in directing and the latter in art direction and wardrobe, and later in directing as well.
‘Parabéns’ (1997), João Pedro Rodrigues’ first short film, ‘O Fantasma’ (2000), his first feature film, ‘Morrer como um Homem’ (2009), ‘A última vez que vi Macau’ (2012) – a region where Guerra da Mata lived – ‘O Ornitólogo’ (2016), and ‘Fogo Fátuo’ (2022) are some of the films they have co-worked on.
João Pedro Rodrigues, who declines to be framed solely within ‘queer’ cinema, and João Rui Guerra da Mata are preparing a new film, ‘O Sorriso de Afonso’, which is scheduled to shoot in the fall across Portugal, Macau, and Luxembourg, according to the production company Terratreme Filmes.
The film is co-produced with Fabrizio Maltese’s Luxembourg-based production company Jolie Rideau, and Luca Guadagnino’s Italian company Frenesy Films.
